U.S. mulls medical treatment for Saleh

Monday

Dec 26, 2011 at 12:01 AMDec 26, 2011 at 12:15 PM

HONOLULU (AP) — The Obama administration is considering whether to allow Yemen’s outgoing president into the United States for medical treatment as fresh violence and political tensions flare in the strategically important Middle East nation.

A senior administration official said President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s office requested he be allowed to receive specialized treatment in the United States for injuries sustained in a June attack on his compound. The request was being considered and would only be approved for medical reasons, the official said.

Until now, the White House had not commented on Saleh’s assertion Saturday that he would be leaving Yemen and traveling to the United States. Saleh insisted he was going in an effort to calm tensions in his country, not for medical treatment.

The official, who requested anonymity because of a lack of authorization to speak publicly, did not say when the Obama administration would decide on Saleh’s request. But the official said Saleh’s office indicated he would leave Yemen soon and spend time elsewhere abroad before he hoped to come to the United States.

Demonstrators began protesting against Saleh and calling for his ouster in February. The Yemeni government responded with a bloody crackdown, leaving hundreds of protesters dead and stoking fears of instability in a nation already grappling with burgeoning extremism.

Last month, Saleh agreed to a U.S.- and Saudi-backed deal to hand power over to his vice president and commit to stepping down completely in exchange for immunity. The deal further angered Saleh’s opponents, who demanded he be tried for his attacks on protesters.

Activists said troops commanded by Saleh’s relatives attacked protesters Saturday in the capital of Sanaa, killing at least nine people. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated yesterday, protesting the deaths and demanding the resignation of Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi for failing to bring the killers to justice.

The White House said President Barack Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, called Hadi yesterday and emphasized the need for Yemeni security forces to show “maximum restraint” when dealing with demonstrations. Hadi told Brennan he had launched an investigation into the recent deaths and injuries and would do his utmost to prevent further bloodshed, the White House said.